Kuroko no Remix
by Saxhyske
Summary: Kuroko believes he needs to defeat the Generation of Miracles to make them recognise his basketball. With the help of Kagami, the duo struggle through high school basketball together with the rest of Seirin. However, help came to Kuroko when he least expected it. She has the same goal as Kuroko - to beat the Kiseki no Sedai. This is their story. Follows the original storyline. OCs.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** Hi everyone! I'm Saxhyske here :) It's my first official KnB fanfic hehe kind of excited :D In case you may not know, this will be a long series which is basically a spin-off from the original story plot. That means I'll try to keep as close to the original storyline as possible, with the exception of adding a few original characters of my own, who will affect how the story flows eventually. I've had this plot idea ever since I started watching Kuroko no Basket which was like more than a year ago, just that I have not been properly penning my thoughts down on paper (or typing or whatever). Yeap It's all in my head, the character and story developments are roughly thought out already. And then there's the writing barrier urgh. I've never been of a writer material myself, so I'm really terrible at churning out wonderfully-crafted stories. I prefer images and stuff. But then again my drawing skills aren't up for it as well. So I shall just stick with writing for now :P Below is a snippet of my fanfic during the Toou match in Interhigh. I figured this would be much interesting than a boring introduction chapter for my first update :P (And also because obviously I haven't really finalized how I'm going to start the story urgh :'D) I wrote this last year and just did a few minor changes. Okay ta-ta for now! Please rate and review :) (I really really need suggestions and help :'D)

**Prologue**

"Even if we can't beat them in this match, so what? Even if we lose to them terribly in this match, so what? It just means that we aren't strong enough! That's all there is to it! Then what should we do?! Even though we already know that this is a losing match for us, we keep forcing our bodies to fight on? Even when we're already mentally exhausted? So what if you're saying you won't give up until the whistle signals the end of the match? Your bodies have long given up! Look at all of you! You're not enjoying this match anymore! What's basketball supposed to be? Winning? Or not giving up no matter what? NO! It's a sport where you constantly train yourself to get stronger and stronger! No matter what obstacles you face, just be stronger! Not giving up on the match will get you nowhere if you have given up on getting stronger!

"So what if we can't win today? There is always tomorrow! If we know we're going to lose, then all the more we should play harder! Let them know that we are not to be underestimated! Let them know that we've challenged them! That 'fine, it's your win today, but it'll be your loss tomorrow'! We should give it all we can with the motivation that in the next match, we'll win! That we won't cry in defeat anymore! That the next time we play against Too again, we'll be the ones crying in victory!"

.

.

.

Everyone could only stare at her wide-eyed after her outburst.

Being the first to snap out of it, Hyuuga sighed and addressed the team. "She's right, with such a huge point difference we won't be able to catch up within three minutes. But that does not mean we should force ourselves to keep playing."

With a resolved stern gaze, he commanded.

"But that does not mean we should let those bastards trample all over us! We'll show them just what Seirin is all about! Once you have calm down, face the court again. This time we _will_ give them a proper declaration of war. Do you understand?!"

"Yes, Captain!"

She grinned.

"Good. Now that that's in order…"

Turning around, she stared intensely at Aomine, receiving a frown in return.

"Let's teach them a lesson."

.

.

.

"I swear on my position as Seirin's manager, that I won't let them take another point for the remaining time that we have on this game!"


	2. I am xxx, and this is my story

**A/N: Surprise surprise I'm back heh! This is a super looooong introductory chapter into the setting (roughly) as well as the main Original Character for this series :) Most of it include stuff from the original chapters and the first anime episode, but oh well.**

**Please please read until the end because most of my own stuff is at the end heh.**

**If it gets too much after a while, just take a break! Go and look at all the spoilers on Facebook and just jump into a feels fest.**

**Okay here goes!**

**/**

**Words: 8,009**

**Storyline taken from: Chapters 1 and 2; Season 1 Episode 1**

**Warnings: Lots of original content from the manga/anime (oops); Mild Language? (I need help with the rating ;_; I don't know whether I need to push this to a T or not. Let me know!)**

_/_

_Teikou Middle School Basketball Club._

_A super strong school with more than 100 club members, boasting several successive championship wins._

_But even in that glorious history, there is still a team that can without fail be called the "strongest"…_

_A generation with five players with a talent like you would see once in ten years._

_They are known as the "Generation of Miracles"._

_But…there was a strange rumour about the "Generation of Miracles"._

_Despite nobody knowing him and not being in any match records, there was still one more person the 5 geniuses acknowledged as superior…_

_**The phantom sixth member**__._

**Chapter 1: I am ... and this is our story.**

"Aren't you interested in rugby?"

"Have you ever played shougi?"

"If you're Japanese then you should play baseball!

"Swimming! It feels super! Haru can vouch for that!" "Leave me out of this."

.

.

.

"Bring a snowplow! I can't move forward!"

"…we haven't moved more than five meters in past ten minutes…"

"… That's it! Let's go the bulldozer way!" Waves arms frantically.

"You're taking it too far—

"Wait you nearly hit that kid!"

"Huh what kid—

"Eh?! He was there just now?!"

"I-I didn't notice him either… I only saw him when his shoes squeaked while dodging your flying arm."

"…urgh kids nowadays."

"He couldn't be a senior, so he has to be our age considering that he's wearing our uniform…"

"…With blue hair I would have spotted him during the morning assembly just now! I saw this freaking tall dude with red hair and weird brows! Urgh he looks like a mafia."

"His invisibility is probably a tad too much I guess…"

.

.

.

"Ah! You! Do you like books? How about the literature club?" Walks past.

"Uh? Erm, no, this is a manga, so…"

"Well, manga are proper books too. And you must read novels as well, right?"

.

.

.

"Hey I can't seem to find where the baseball club designated area is."

"Hmm? Just look at the notice board over there."

"Oh right. Erm, ah it's next to the basketball club."

"So you've decided to join baseball?"

"I'm just going to try it out. I heard that the star player Yamamoto joined the club last year! As a fan I want to see his skills first-hand!"

"Joining because of a star player. Heh, fanboy much?"

"S-shut up! At least it's better than the basketball club! I saw the number of sophomores they have, it's barely enough to form a team!"

"Hmmm the manager is kind of cute though, if she was sexier I would have joined the club in a heartbeat."

"Tch pervert."

.

.

.

"Wow. There are so many clubs trying to get new members."

"Urgh. I think they are too enthusiastic. Someone should totally form a "going home" club?"

"Stuuuupid –"

_**What's the point of having a club if…**_

"—if its purpose is just to go home?"

"Lots of points. You can just go home and play video games or something, instead of staying cooped up in the school gym being all sweaty and stuff. And it's mandatory to join a club for this school, so why not a go-home club?"

Snickers. "Heh, well you can try applying for a new club registration. Since this school is barely a year old there aren't that many clubs yet as compared to other high schools."

"Not that many clubs, but their level of enthusiasm to get freshmen is killing me."

"And why wouldn't they? It's a chance to grab some talents and actually make their clubs flourish through tournaments and competitions! It's quite hard to actually achieve something with only a bunch of second years anyway. Oh, but I've heard about the basketball club in this school. Although they only had first years last year, they managed to become one of the top four schools in Tokyo!"

"Blah. That's only a name. And I heard that they were—"

_**Thrashed**_**.**

"—in the end and did not make it to the actual Interhigh."

"Heeeh? You seem to know quite a bit about the club."

"Only because it's basketball. My middle school team was—"

_**Utterly crushed.**_

"– right at the beginning of the tournaments so I had nothing else to do but to watch other people play."

"Maaan, that sounds—"

_**Demoralizing.**_

"Well, you feel hopeless at the beginning. But eventually you'll—"

_**Accept that it's reality.**_

.

.

.

"Well write your name and student ID number here."

"Then… the middle school you come from and your goals?"

"Ah. That is arbitrary, so you can put anything you want."

.

.

.

"…Ten people so far. Maybe we'd need a bit more…" _ I wonder how the invitations are going… everyone, do your best to bring back promising guys!_

Sweats profusely. "…I brought back… a new student…"

_Uh?_

"Is this the basketball club?"

Looks up. _He's huge!_

"Y-yeah." _Brought back… isn't it the other way around?!_

_On top of that, what is that guy…?! He's got the intensity of a wild tiger! Ah, snap out of it Riko! _Clearing her throat, she starts talking.

"I think you know already, but our school was barely opened last year. All the upperclassmen are still just second years, so somebody with your build will definitely—"

"I don't care about that—"

_Urgh he dares to interrupt me—_

"—give me the paper. I'll just write my name and go back."

…_his middle school __i__s in America? Oh, I see he trained from the source… that's kind of amazing!_

_Kagami…Taiga-kun? No matter how you look at it, he doesn't seem like an average guy._

"…You didn't write your goals?"

"… None in particular." After crushing the paper cup into a ball, he threw it backwards without a glance…

And it hit the dustbin.

"After all, basketball is the same no matter where you go in Japan."

.

.

.

"Ah, you forgot to pick up a registration paper."

"Eh? Errr… Kuroko… Tetsuya…" _Although I've been sitting here all day, I don't remember at all._

…_wait. Wait wait wait wait—_

"He came from the Teikou basketball club?!"

"Eeh? That famous one?!"

"On top of that, if he's a first year now that means he was from the 'Generation of Miracles'?! Waah, why did I forget the face of such a golden egg?!"

"And that guy came back from America…what's with the freshmen this year?!"

/

"I'm the boy basketball club's coach – Aida Riko. Nice to meet you!"

"Eeeh?! It wasn't that old dude in the corner?!"

"That's the advisor, Takeda-sensei."

"Wait. So she's not the manager?" "Damn, I was looking forward to having a manager fawning over me." "Dream on!" "Never mind that, is it even allowed?! To have a student as the coach?!"

"…Well then—

"Take off your shirts!"

"Eehhhhh?!" _What else could she be up to?!_

_**Aida Riko-san. Her father is a sports trainer. He always records data in order to make training menus. It's a special skill she gained after spending everyday at his workplace looking at muscles and data. By looking at someone's body, her eyes see all of its abilities and stats. Well, nothing less to be expected from a coach…**_

"Guh?!" _What the hell… these numbers are far above everyone else's… they can't be the stats of a freshman! On top of that, I can't even estimate his potential…this is…_

_**Judging from her reaction after looking at Kagami Taiga, it affirms my calculations. He is –**_

_Raw talent!_

"Coach! I think that's all of them!"

"U-uh? Oh okay…wait! Where's Kuroko-kun?!"

"Ah that guy from Teikou Middle School…" "Eh?! Teikou?! You mean, that Teikou?!"

_**From what I remember he always gets the same reaction every time he introduces himself.**_

"Well, I guess he's taking the day off today. Let's start practice—"

"Erm… excuse me.

"I am Kuroko."

… … …

"Kyaaaa!" "Wah, what?! Wooh?!" "Since when were you here?!"

"I was here the whole time."

"Seriously?!"

_I didn't notice him in front of my eyes!? Eh? Just now, he said he was Kuroko?! Eeh?! It's like he's invisible!_

"Eh? Then that means this guy is from the 'Generation of Miracles'?!" "He couldn't have been a regular…" "Of course not. Right, Kuroko-kun?"

"I have played in matches though."

"See just what…huh?" "Eh? ….eh?!" "EHHHHH?!"

_I can't believe it!_

Kagami could only sweatdropped. _…what the hell is this guy?! …wait… _

"Err do you need something? Kagami…right?"

"Hey I need to ask you something. About Teikou Middle School and the whatever of Miracles…"

/

…_the 'Generation of Miracles'… if it's these guys then maybe—_

"Hello."

"Gwoh?!"

"You ordered a lot of burgers. I guess you are still growing up, right?"

"W-where did you come fro— wait, what are you doing here?!"

"I have been sitting here for a while, watching people."

…_this guy was from the best of Japan? And wait… watching people?!_

/

**Kuroko Tetsuya. His stats are low. All his abilities are below average. And he is already at the peak of his growth. He looks nothing like a regular of the strongest team. But like they say…**

**Looks can be deceiving.**

/

"What I'm looking for is not playing basketball for fun. I want to play in matches that make my blood boil at full strength.

"…but I've heard a nice thing earlier. It seems like there are strong guys called the 'Generation of Miracles' in the same year. You were in that team right?" Kuroko gave no reply to that.

"I can guess the strength of an opponent to some extent too. It's like strong guys have a peculiar smell about them.

"But you're weird. Even though you should reek of weakness… you don't smell like anything at all. Your—"

**Your strength is odourless.**

"—I want to see for myself. You, from the 'Generation of Miracles', what kind of guy you are!"

"…what a coincidence. I was thinking of playing against you as well.

"A one-on-one."

.

.

.

_He is…he's desperately weak!_

_Even with that body size, there are guys who became first-class players thanks to their skills. But that guy… his dribbles and shoots are those of an amateur…_

_He's got nothing redeeming. He's –_

_**Not even worth playing against.**_

"Don't mess with me! Did you hear what I said?! You're overestimating yourself if you think you can win against me like that!"

Sigh. "Of course not. Isn't it obvious that Kagami-kun is the strongest? I knew that from the beginning."

"Are you picking a fight?! What's your goal?" _And what's with that sigh?! He's seriously pissing me off!_

"I wanted to see Kagami-kun's strength directly."

"Huh?! …geez…" _What the hell am I doing… he's just weak to the point he doesn't smell like anything at all… I feel like an idiot…_

"Err…" Kuroko stretches the ball out to him.

"Ah. It's alright already. I'm not interested in weak guys. I'll give you one last advice.

"It's better if you give up on basketball. No matter what kind of beautiful things you can say about effort, it's an undeniable fact that you need talent in our society. You have—"

_**No talent for basketball**_**.**

"…I have to say no to that."

…_.?_

"To begin with, I love basketball. On top of that…

"It is a matter of point of view. I do not care about who is the strongest."

"What did you—"

"I am… different from you. I—"

_**I am a shadow.**_

/

"Let's hav game!"

"…a match against the seniors, that means…"

"Do you remember what they told us when we joined the club? Their result from last year—"

_**Last year, with only freshmen, they made it to the final league of Interhigh. Promising information, but whatever happened afterwards is what I want to know. If they are strong…**_

_**What led to their fall?**_

"Seriously?! That's completely out of the ordinary…"

Kagami gave a smirk. "Now's not the time to be scared. Of course it's better if the opponent is strong rather than weak, right?

"Let's go!"

The moment the game started, Kagami swooped in and managed to score a powerful dunk against the seniors.

"Ooooh?!" "Waaah! What was with that dunk! Awesome!"

_It's more than I could have ever imagined! With that—_

_**Such destructive force for such unpolished, intuitive play. Not bad. His firing power is that of a monster...**_

_**But, he's not the only monster around.**_

"Hey, that's insane…" "The freshmen are in the lead?!" "I can't believe the first years are this strong." "But, well, Kagami's doing it all by himself."

_Rather than that…Tch! That kid still has me on edge—_

One of seniors managed to steal the ball from Kuroko's possession.

"The ball was stolen?! From this guy again?!" "Focus!"

— _For all the profound things he says, he can't play for shit! Guys—_

_**Guys who are all talk—**_

—_Pisses me off the most!_

—_**Pisses him off the most.**_

"S-so high!" "Nothing can stop Kagami now!"

"…we can't let that happen now can we?" "Time to put them in their place." "It's on."

…_?!_

"Three guys?!" "If they go that far, Kagami…" "On top of that…"

"Even when he doesn't have the ball, there still are two guys…" "They aren't letting him touch the ball at all!"

_Hmmph. It's time for us to shine. _ With a gleam of his glasses, with unhesitant fluid movements he shot a three pointer.

As the first years struggle to defend and score without Kagami, and the seniors doing all they can to subdue said monster, the point gap slowly decreased. Eventually, the second years led 31-15.

"…they're really strong after all…" "Actually, there was—"

_**No way to win from the start.**_

"It's enough already—" His sentence was cut off when a large hand grabbed his collar.

"Enough already?! What the hell is with that?"

Jab. "Please calm down, Kagami-kun."

"Y-y-y-y-y-you bastard…!"

.

.

"…seems like there's a dispute." "Kuroko… now that I think about it he is here too…"

Sigh. _Even I, the referee, completely forgot him at some point…hmm?...Huh? Seriously? _

_How long has he been in?_

_**It's starting.**_

"Excuse me could you pass me the ball?"

_What is this uncomfortable feeling? Could it be… that something unthinkable is about to happen?_

Whoosh.

_E-eh? Since when did I have the ball?!_

"Hurry! Shoot!" "Er…ah yes!"

"It… it's in?! How did he get that pass through just now?!" "I don't know, I didn't see!"

Again. Again and yet again. Kuroko performed perfect and accurate passes to his teammates for them to score.

"How the hell does he do that?!" "Before you even notice it, the pass goes through and they score?!"

…_he is making use of his lack of presence to relay passes? On top of that, the time he keeps the ball is extremely short! He's already hard to notice from the beginning…could he be diminishing his already weak presence even more?_

_**Misdirection.**_

_**A technique used in sleight of hand. He is drawing his opponent's attention away from himself. To be more accurate, he is not using his lack of presence –**_

— _but directing his opponent's attention elsewhere!_

Even Kagami was flustered. _…this is Kuroko's…_

Flabbergasted, Riko could only watch on as she recalls something. _He is the invisible regular of Teikou who excelled in passing. I've heard rumours, but I didn't think he actually existed. The —_

_**The phantom sixth player of the "Generation of Miracles" – Kuroko Tetsuya.**_

_._

_._

"Wah I can't believe it!" "One point difference?!"

"Damn, each of them would be bothersome on his own, but…" _With the two of them playing together like this, we have no way of stopping these attacks!_

Due to the flustered movements of the seniors, Kuroko easily intercepted a badly thrown pass.

"Damn it!"

"Wooh!" "Go, Kuroko!"

As he made the final dash towards the basket, he attempted a layup.

The basketball hit the rim. "Win this for us—"

Before bouncing off.

"..." _…huh…_

The ball came in contact with Kagami's hand. "That's why weak guys piss me off."

And with the final dunk to conclude the match in their favour—

"At least score properly, idiot!"

.

.

.

Kuroko could only give a faint smile.

"Waah! The freshmen won?!"

_Haha! Those guys.. well… as allies, they'll be reliable…_

.

.

.

"Whew. What a match. Kagami, Kuroko, do you want to hang out?"

"Urgh. I need to meet a teacher before he leaves the school today."

"Kagami-kun got into trouble and has to answer for his actions."

"S-shut up!"

"Haha, that's too bad then. How about you, Kuroko?"

"Yeah I would like to know more about the phantom sixth member as well!"

"I'm sorry, Furihata-kun, Fukuda-kun, Kawahara-kun. I have something on later, so I can't join you guys."

"Ah, well. Maybe next time then."

"You guys can leave first. I think I left something in the locker room."

/

"…Why are you here again?"

"Kagami-kun is the one who came to sit at my table. And it is because I like the vanilla milkshake here."

"Go sit elsewhere."

"No."

Pissed. "…Don't go thinking that we're friends now…"

"Like I said, I was the first one to sit here."

"…" Kagami could only fume in silence at the enigma known as Kuroko Tetsuya.

Sigh. "…here," he tossed over a hamburger from his huge burger stack, "I'll give you one.

"But I'm not interested in weak guys. I'll acknowledge you are worth one piece of all that."

Deadpanned. "…Thank you."

.

.

.

"How strong are the 'Generation of Miracles'? If I were to play them now, how would I fare?"

"…You'd be destroyed instantly."

"Urgh… Do you have to put it like that?"

"…The five prodigies have each gone on to play for their own schools. One of these schools will stand at the top."

"…Hahaha! Nice! That's the kind of thing that lights a fire in me. … I've decided!

"I'll crush all of them and become Japan's best player."

"….. I don't think that's possible."

"Hey!"

"If you have hidden talent, I wouldn't know. But, from what I've seen, you wouldn't even reach their feet. You can't do it alone. I've also decided."

"Huh?"

"I am a—"

**Supporting actor. A shadow.**

"— but the stronger the light, the darker the shadow, and the more it accentuates the brightness of the light.

"I'll be the shadow to your light, and make you the best player in Japan."

"…Ha! Look who's talking. Just do whatever you want."

"I will do my best."

/

"W-wait! Why wasn't I told of this beforehand?"

"…Hehe. Coach asked me to keep it a secret from Captain."

"It's not Koganei-kun's fault. _She_ specifically requested that I keep this as low profile as possible."

"…Never mind that. Is she useful to the team?"

"Although I haven't seen what she is capable of, her eyes told me everything…"

/

"…_You didn't write your goals?"_

"… _None in particular." After crushing the paper cup into a ball, he threw it backwards without a glance…_

_And it hit the dustbin._

"_After all, basketball is the same no matter where you go in Japan."_

_With that, Kagami stalked off without a glance back, brushing past a brunette approaching the basketball club counter._

"…_he sure is scary. Do you know how freaked out I was when he suddenly towered over me just now?! And those quadruple eyebrows! I felt like I couldn't see the sunlight ever again—"_

"_Urgh stop being so dramatic Koganei—"_

"_Excuse me."_

_Upon hearing a feminine voice, Riko and Koganei stopped talking and turn to face the owner of the voice._

"_Sorry for interrupting, but is this the basketball club?" A girl slightly shorter than Koganei with short, silky, ebony hair asked politely._

_Riko and Koganei could only stare at her, dumbfounded. _What a beauty…

_Although she does not have any exotic looks or whatever, her demeanor was that of grace and sophistication. Smooth, pristine__,__ skin seemed to shine brilliantly, and her face is angelic as well. With soft, smooth features, the way her long eyelashes brushed against her cheeks just stunned both the second years. Even behind the thinly framed glasses, they could make out the intensity the obsidian eyes lashed out at them, all the while gazing at them in a gentle manner. Such an ethereal creature._

_Adjusting her glasses, she lightly cleared her throat after receiving no response from the dazed sophomores. Snapping out of it, Riko stuttered, "A-ah. Y-yes this is the basketball club! How may we help you?"_

"_I would like to ask if this school has a girl team."_

"_Oh. Ah…I'm sorry… because our school is quite new, a lot of clubs have not been formed yet. That applies to the girls' basketball team as well." Riko could only smile apologetically at her._

"_That's not an issue! You can form your own team here, Beauty-chan! I'm sure there are other girls with the same interest as you!" Koganei barged in. _ I mean, wouldn't it be great if the club can actually have girls?! We can train together, hang out together, and—

_Whack. "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking."_

"_I'm sorry."_

"_But he's right. As long as you have the determination and passion, why not start your own team? That's how the boys' team was formed last year." Giving an encouraging smile, Riko urged her to do so._

Seeing how pale her complexion is, I doubt she has experience in basketball though... she probably wants to try something new I guess...

"_I know that."_

"_Ah that's right—wait, what do you know?"_

"_I know. How this school… how Seirin High School basketball club was formed last year."_

"_Uh…huh… so you know about us—"_

"_But I don't know how the club was destroyed last year."_

_Riko jolted upon hearing that. "…what did you say—"_

"_Would senpai like to enlighten me on that matter?"_

"…_brat are you here to pick a fight—"_

"_C-calm down, Coach! I don't think she mean any harm!"_

_She gave a small chuckle._

"_W-what are you laughing at?!"_

"_Ah, no," giving a faint smile, she continued, "it's just… heart-warming to see the coach being so protective of her team.__ And I apologise for my rude comment earlier, I meant no hostility."_

_Calming down a bit, Riko eyed her apprehensively. "… you know I'm the coach?"_

"_Being the only high school female coach for __a high school __boy's team in Japan, I think it would be a surprise if I __don't__."_

"_Whoa! I didn't know Coach is so famous…"_

_"Well, if people bother to even pay attention they would know as well."_

_"Anyway, I'll just take that as a compliment. Feel free to approach us for any help with recruitment of members and stuff! I can offer my analytical skills to you."_

_"Ah. That would be nice. Thank you, Aida-senpai."_

_"Ah yes. We haven't asked for your-"_

_A paper dropped to the ground._

_"Ah, you forgot to pick up a registration paper."_

"_Eh? Errr… Kuroko… Tetsuya…" Although I've been sitting here all day, I don't remember at all._

...wait. Wait wait wait wait_ —_

"_He came from the Teikou basketball club?!"_

"_Eeh? That famous one?!"_

_The bespectacled teen kept quiet throughout the outburst. _

"_On top of that, if he's a first year now that means he was from the 'Generation of miracles'?! Waah, why did I forget the face of such a golden egg?!"_

"_And the guy earlier came back from America…what's with the freshmen this year?!"_

"_Riko-senpai."_

_"H-huh? You're still here?" _ And what's with the sudden change in the way she addresses me by my given name? We just met! And I still don't know her name!

_"I've changed my mind. I'm not going to form a girls' team anymore."_

_"Eh? Then..."_

_Staring straight at Riko, she flashed out a sweet smile._

W-what does she want?

_"Would you guys like to have a manager for the boys' team?"_

/

_**Kagami Taiga and Kuroko Tetsuya.**_

_**Their styles and builds are different, but they are both aiming for the seat of the "strongest".**_

/

"The test to be accepted as an official member will be held on Monday, 8.40 a.m. at the rooftop!"

.

.

.

_Boys' basketball club, qualified for the Kantou__1__ tournament on their first participation!_

"…heh, maybe this basketball club is actually quite amazing?" Kagami was reading an issue of the _Seirin Student Newspaper _placed on the bulletin board.

"It is amazing."

…

"Argh!" To say the least, Kagami was spooked. Again.

"Bastard! Can you just appear normally for once?! Stop jumping out of nowhere!"

Kuroko only stared back with unexpressive blue orbs.

Pissed, Kagami grabbed his head with more force than necessary. "You're picking a fight? You're picking a fight right?! Answer me!"

"…I am not."

_I seriously can't believe it… this guy who is usually just invisible… to think he was called the phantom sixth player in basketball…_

_But wait, why? The other players of the "Generation of Mircales" all went to bigger veteran schools, right? Why didn't this guy go as well?_

/

And so on the following Monday at 8.40 on the dot, the first years are greeted with the sight of Riko smirking devilishly at them, arms crossed, the morning breeze around them like the devil's whisperings.

"Fu fu fu. I was waiting."

Kagami could only sweatdropped. "…are you an idiot?"

"Is this a duel?"

Kagami scratched his head. "It's true, I forgot but…speaking of Monday…

"Isn't it five minutes before the beginning of the classes' morning assembly?!"

"Hurry up with the test!"

Riko grinned. "Before that, there is one thing I have to say. Last year, I made a promise when the captain asked me to become the coach.

"We're playing basketball to aim for the nationals! If you're not ready for this, feel free to go to another club!"

"…Ha? What do you…"

"I know that you guys are strong. But I want to check something more important than that. No matter how seriously you practice, you'll always stay weak if you're thinking 'maybe one day, I'll do it' or 'as long as I can'. I want you to have a big, concrete objective and the will to achieve it no matter what.

"That's why now, from here, you will shout your class number, name and goal for this year!"

"Giving a gleeful grin, she added, "on top of that, if you can't do that here, next time I'll have you confess to the girl you like completely naked!"

"Eh?!"

"_Haa?! I didn't hear about that!" "Well, they did say when we were invited to the club…!" "But to think you'd have to go that far…?!"_

"I said it earlier, but you really need a big, concrete hurdle! If you're thinking of 'let's pass the first round' or 'I'll do my best', I want you to fix that!"

"W-wait! So she's serious?!" "The teachers will be angry after that…"

Kagami only sighed. "Isn't that too easy? It won't even be a test." With that, he strutted to the railing and hopped onto it.

"Class 1-B, seat 8, Kagami Taiga! I will defeat the 'Generation of Miracles' and become the number one in Japan!"

"… I was surprised…" "What's that about?"

_Waah, they're doing it this year too after all. Coach sure is pushy, heh…_

_**Heh. Interesting.**_

.

.

.

"Sorry, I'm not very good at shouting. Is it alright if I use the loudspeaker?"

"U-un, I guess…"

"Koraaaa! The basketball club again!"

"Tch, they're quick this year."

Riko could only grit her teeth and bear with it as she and the first years were chided by the teachers.

…_I did tell her to come to the rooftop as well. A manager is also a club member. And she didn't even turn up…_

/

"_You want to be the manager?"_

"_Yes.. would that be a problem?"_

"_No problem at all! Come on, Coach! We need the extra help!"_

"_Shut up! Don't recruit her just because you want a manager in the club!"_

"_I'm sorry."_

"_Well, our team doesn't have a lot of members—"_

"_I know that."_

"_Don't. Rub it in."_

"_I apologise."_

"_As I was saying, we don't have a lot of members. Hence, I am still able to cover the duties of a manager on top of being the coach. If you are thinking a manager is one who only helps with the equipment, recording stats and stuff, then we don't need you."_

"_C-coach, that's too harsh…"_

"_If you can't provide anything of value to the team, then I suggest you look elsewhere for a club—"_

"_I don't think like that."_

"…_what?"_

"_What made you think that I believe a manager just needs to stand there and look pretty? I'm a close acquaintance of the basketball team's manager in my middle school, so I know her job scope pretty well. And I know your requirements for a manager."_

"…_try me."_

"_A manager is someone who looks after the welfare of the team. That's the first and foremost role of a manager. While she or he may not be physically involved in the team play and practice, a manager needs to know basketball well enough to understand the strategies meted out by the coach or the players so that some helpful tips could be given at times. It's good if the manager can also think of a few strategies herself and discuss with the coach or teachers how the team has been progressing and what other possible routes we can take as a club together. A manager also handles the administration stuff as much as possible such as registering for the upcoming tournament or ensuring that every member has drinks during practices and actual matches. He or she should look out for possible friendly matches with potentially strong school teams and unofficial competitions for the team to participate in to increase their exposure to games and such. Last but not the least, a manager should keep an eye on the physical and psychological well-being of the members and be willing to lend a helping hand when they need it."_

"_W-wow."_

"_If you need one, I can be the mascot of the team as well to attract more students to join—"_

"_N-no need to go to that extent!" Heaving a heavy sigh, Riko pinched the bridge of her nose._

"…_Fine. I understand your intent. If you are really that keen to join our club, please meet at the rooftop—"_

/

…_and I was looking forward to what she can really accomplish in our club. She does seem promising… oh well, it won't really hurt us if she suddenly backed out._

…_urgh! I just realized I still don't know her name!_

/

"…do they have to be that angry because I spoke too loudly?" It was in the evening and Kagami was at his usual fast food hangout.

"I hadn't done anything and I still got scolded…"

"Pfft!" Kagami choked on his burger. _…should I just change stores?! We meet here just too often._

"And it has become quite a problem. It seems I won't be able to fulfill my part of the promise anytime soon."

"Ha?"

"Since this morning the rooftop has been heavily guarded. What will I do if I'm unable to join the club?"

"…There's no way that will happen, you know."

After thinking for a while, Kagami decided to raise the question that had been plaguing his mind.

"More importantly, something has been bothering me. To begin with, you were considered good enough to be called the phantom sixth player, right?

"Then, why didn't you join a renown veteran school like the other guys?

"Do you… have a reason to play basketball?"

"…The middle school I was at was really strong at basketball—"

"I know that already!"

"— but there was only one simple rule over there… that was—"

百戦百勝2.

_**Winning is everything.**_

"— what was necessary for that sake wasn't teamwork. The 'Generation of Mircales' was just basketball based on overwhelming individual skills that were the strongest…but, you couldn't have called that a 'team' anymore—"

_**A team of stars does not make a star team.**_

"— I was playing well with these five people, but… I felt like I was missing something important…"

"…So, what is it? It can't be… that you want to take down the 'Generation of Miracles' with your basketball skills?"

"I used to think like that but…"

"…Seriously?!"

"_I'll crush all of them and become Japan's best player."_

"But… rather than that, in this school…"

"_We're playing basketball to aim for the nationals!__"_

"…I was moved by you and senpai's words. Right now, the most important reason for which I'm playing basketball… is because I want to make you and this team the best in Japan."

"…Still saying those embarrassing stuff as usual! Aah, whatever, as long as I get to crush the 'Generation of Miracles'.

"And it's not 'I want'. You _will _make us number one!"

/

Kagami walked in to his class only to see all of his classmates crowding around the windows.

"Hmm? What's the fuss?"

Glancing over the glass, realization dawned on him. "…Ha!"

_**I will make you number one in Japan.**_

In big, bold kanji on the schoolyard, Kuroko's heartfelt thoughts could be felt by the entire school as said enigma rubbed his nose with his hand, revealing a chalk-stained sleeve.

Riko could only looked on at the declaration in amusement. _Heh… the fun starts now!_

/

Since the remaining members were forbidden from shouting from the rooftop, they had to declare their goals during their club activity time, and their numbers went down from 15 people to 6.

/

"Argh. If they already pushed the entrance ceremony for the freshmen by a week then might as well not have it at all. Having it later than on the first day of school kind of defeats the purpose."

"I would have to disagree on that, Kagami-kun."

"..." He did not have the energy to argue with him about the absurdity of appearing out of thin air anymore.

"The only reason why the entrance ceremony was held back for Seirin is due to the previously ongoing renovation in the school hall which was unexpectedly delayed. While students may already have warmed up to one another in the previous week or so, the entrance ceremony must still be held.

"In April, throughout Japan, new students are entering school as first years. This milestone in their lives is marked by the Entrance Ceremony (入学式) at most schools. These ceremonies are nearly as important as graduation ceremonies, and nearly as formal, congratulating the students on their achievement as well as instilling in them a certain level of respect and awe for their new position. It may also help them jump into the closed group dynamics of schools in our country by providing a communal experience for the entering class to have together.

"The ceremony is attended by the students and their families—ah, I see my grandmother. The children dress in their school uniforms while parents dress formally or in colourful kimonos. The old, graduated students of the school as well as the families are seated in the gym and the new students march in to a round of applause—just like now, welcoming us. The principal would then address the gathering, and the homeroom teachers would be introduced—although we already knew ours—"

"O-okay! I'll never _ever _look down on the importance of entrance ceremonies again, okay?! Urgh. I didn't expect you to go into a full-blown rant about it…"

"Well, I was just taking this time to explain to Kagami-kun about one of the formal proceedings we have here in Japan. You lived abroad for most of your life right?"

"Uh…yeah…thanks, I guess…"

Just then, he noticed a student walking up on stage. "…Kuroko, what is she doing up there?"

"She must be the student representative then."

"Student representative?"

"Student representatives would be asked to make short speeches as well. They are usually the current student council members, other students who have made quite a number of achievements…

"Or the freshman who scored the highest for the entrance exams."

/

"The first years are having their entrance ceremony now, right?"

"Hmmm? Yeah…they will be late for today's practice."

"I wonder who is the student representative for their batch, though."

"Hah? Why are you interested in those kind of stuff, Koganei?"

"Haha I just don't understand how some people can score so well for their school work. It baffles me."

"Aho! The answer is simple!"

"Hmm? You know the answer, Hyuuga? If that's the case why aren't you the top student—"

"That has nothing to do with me, Izuki" Lowering his voice, he added, "besides I was going to say…

"These people…aren't _humans_. They are—"

_**Monsters.**_

"Did you say something, Hyuuga-kun?"

"C-crap! She heard me!"

Riko gave an angelic smile. "Please. Grit your teeth."

"Noooooooooo—"

"Hah! You deserve it! You shouldn't have said anything while Coach is here. She was one of the top last year after all."

After dealing with Hyuuga's stupidity, Riko paused. _Speaking of that… that kid seemed to know what she was doing. And she looks like the intelligent type too… should I just look for her after all?_

_Ah! No! She was the one who approached us first! I can't just rid myself of my woman's pride and look for her first! If she wants to join, she has to prove her tenacity!_

Bzzzzz.

"Eh? The sound system…?"

"An announcement? At this time? School has officially ended long time ago…"

"_Thank you for making this arrangement for me."_

"Huh? Who's that?"

"_I am sure everyone present, including the seniors who are busy with their club activities, are confused as to what is happening."_

The voice was broadcasted throughout the school, and everyone pause in whatever they were doing and listened.

"_I am a freshman student representative for this year, after scoring the highest for the entrance exam to Seirin."_

"She's the representative? But why is her speech being broadcasted to other areas in the school?"

"_While many may expect the general speech prepared by a student representative is to encourage the other students that they can achieve anything with enough hard work, the..."_

"_**Real world doesn't work like that."**_

"_You've got to be good at whatever it is you are doing or want to do, before you talk about achieving results."_

"Wait… her voice sounds familiar…"

"_A few days ago, when the clubs are frantically trying to recruit new members, I chanced upon this rather interesting club."_

"Ah! She is…!"

"_It was the basketball club."_

"It's Beauty-chan! I don't believe it! Not only does she have the looks, she has the brains as well?!"

"Huh? Koganei, what are you talking about? How to you know her? And 'Beauty-chan'?"

"Ah she is—"

"Wait. Let's listen to what she has to say about our club. I'll explain it to you guys later."

"_Why would I say it is interesting? Even though they seriously lack in members—"_

"…"

"— _and their future looks bleak—"_

"Bleak? Bleak?! I'll show you what's bleak when I'm done with your face—"

"Calm down, Coach!"

"— _the members at the counter were still happily bickering about how scary the guy with the quadruple eyebrows was."_

Kagami choked on his saliva. _What the hell?! Does she want to start a fight—_

"And no, Kagami, I don't wish to start a fight with you. I was merely quoting from Koganei-senpai."

She stared directly at Kagami in the crowd.

_W-why?! Now Kagami will kill me for making fun of his eyebrows…!_

Kagami's eye twitched. "Huh—" _W-wait. She… knew what I was thinking?! What is she, some kind of mind reader!?_

"_No I am not."_

"_Stop reading my mi—!"_

"I-isn't that Kagami's voice?"

"Uhhh. If we can hear him from the sound system I can't imagine how loud he is in the hall…"

"Kagami-kun. This is a formal ceremony." Kuroko firmly clasped a hand over Kagami's mouth before more students turn and look at them.

"…" _How is this anything close to formal?!_

"As I was saying—"

"—_saying, the basketball club seemed to be carefree even with the obvious lack in members to have proper training schedules."_

Riko was beyond pissed. "How long does she want to ridicule us?!"

"_The sophomores were probably thinking, 'It's okay. As long as we can get our hands on some decent members, we should be able to do it this year. After all, we were so close last year!'_

"_...that is exactly the kind of mindset that I want everyone to shed. 'Tch, I was so close to getting what I want, I'll definitely be able to do it this time round.' 'Man, if only I hadn't made that careless mistake, I could have been elsewhere now.'_

"_Or, 'If I had gotten more three pointers in, if I had remained focus, our team wouldn't have been…_

"_**Thrashed."**_

"—_last year."_

Hyuuga could only give a humorless laugh._ That brat, she totally saw through my heart._

"_All these wistful thinking, discard them. Attack whatever problems you have like a brand new person. It doesn't matter how close you were to your goal in the past. __**It doesn't matter.**__ What matters is the present, and the future. Work towards these two rather than dwelling on the past, because __**no one can stay truly stagnant.**__"_

…

Everyone was left speechless and stunned after that tirade.

Taking a deep breath, the student representative continued.

"Finally, I would like to fulfill the promise I have yet to keep. Even though the basketball club seemed to have a bleak future ahead of them with the serious lack in members—"

"Can she stopped with the bleak thing?!"

"—_they are still selective about the members joining their family. They make sure they pick the best of the best, and the new members have to overcome their fear by proudly declaring their goals for themselves and the club. That is what I found interesting about the club._

"_I am sure everyone present, including the seniors who are busy with their club activities, are confused as to why I place so much emphasis on the basketball club in my speech._

"_This is because—"_

"_**I am joining the club."**_

Kagami's eyes bulged out. _She…She is joining?! Urgh I don't think I can get along with her…_

"I am here to fulfill the promise, of declaring my goals for myself as well as for the club. I am—"

/

"_I'm sorry, Furihata-kun, Fukuda-kun, Kawahara-kun. I have something on later, so I can't join you guys."_

"_Ah, well. Maybe next time then."_

"_You guys can leave first. I think I left something in the locker room."_

"_Oh. Okay see ya!"_

_After waving goodbye to the other first years, Kuroko turned back and walked towards the locker room._

"_Heh. You noticed me?"_

"_It had to be hard not to."_

"_Since when did you learn how to lie like that, Kuroko Tetsuya?"_

"_I didn't lie. I really left something in here. It's in your hands."_

"_It is just insurance in case you did not see me. But I guess I worried too much."_

"_Yes you did. Can I have my phone back?"_

"_Sure,sure."_

…

"_After Kagami made the dunk, you smiled."_

_Kuroko did not reply to that._

"…_Heh. Must be ecstatic huh? Having such a powerful player as your new light."_

"…_I'm sure you have something to tell me."_

"_Haha. Yes of course."_

/

"Oh! The first years are back!"

"Sorry for being late."

"No worries! That must have been one hell of an entrance ceremony!"

"Well, what happened after that?"

"The teachers just quickly and as discreetly as possible gestured her to stop and get off the mike. She took longer than necessary for her speech and they had to speed up the remaining events."

"Boring."

"And how does she even persuade the school to broadcast her speech to the entire place?"

"…let's just not question it."

"Wah… I can't wait to see her. Koganei and Riko seemed to have been heavily affected by the newcomer."

"Positively and negatively."

"Well, Coach? What do you think?"

"What?"

"She did keep to her end of the promise. And I can tell she has guts, talking to the whole school like that."

"…but her personality pisses me off a bit."

"Well, it's good to be feisty I guess…"

"Fine. I guess she's in."

"Hooray! You're the best, Coach! To days with Beauty-chan—"

"Aho! Anyway, why didn't she want to let the others know about her beforehand?"

"Hmm? She said something about allowing her to quietly analyse what each member is capable of and have a clearer understanding of their strengths and weaknesses."

"…Wait, quietly analyse?"

"Yes, she has been observing you."

"N-now that you mention it…"

"I've been feeling like I was being watched or something…"

"W-when we were trying to recruit new members there was a girl staring at us from behind a tree…"

"And I do remember seeing this girl sitting in a corner reading while we had our practice last week…"

"Kuroko, did you know about this?!"

"…I've seen her."

"Urgh. As I thought, only the same kind can see one another."

"That is an absurd sentence, Kagami-kun."

"What did you say?!"

Admist the bickering, confessions of a girl appearing everywhere now that they thought about it came spluttering out as horror dawned upon them.

"That's not analyzing! That's downright stalking!"

"…how rude."

Whipping their heads so quickly they got whiplashes, their jaws dropped as the subject of topic strolled into the gym.

"Beauty-chan!" Koganei was the only one ecstatic to see her. The others were still trying to recover from the shock.

And the whiplash.

"One, I don't stalk. That is just plain degrading. Two, I wasn't just _staring_, I was gathering information about your physique and abilities. Do not misunderstand my intent."

"…O-okay we understand!"

"Well, since you're here, do you want to formally introduce yourself to the club?"

"Yes, Riko-senpai. Ah, how do you think of my speech?"

Recalling the way she had made fun of the club, Riko could not help but be pissed again. "I feel like slapping you."

"Ah. Just as I thought. However, I meant no—"

"Yes yes, you meant no harm. I know." Despite being blunt and crude, Riko could not help but to take a liking to the first year.

Just a bit.

"Good afternoon, everyone. It's a pleasure to meet you. I have become an official member of this – I did right, Riko-senpai? You know you cannot do without me—"

"Yes you _are_ accepted! Just move on!"

"I hope to be acquainted with you all and let's bring the team to the top." With a smile, she ended off her introductory speech.

_Mah, I guess that's why I can't bring myself to really hate her. _Smiling as well, Riko asked, "Well, we all heard your goal over the sound system. How about reiterating it again here?"

"Must I?"

"The manager has to listen to the coach."

"But I'm not just any manager, and Riko-senpai you are just not any co—"

"Just do as I say, dang it!"

"I am here to fulfill the promise, of declaring my goals for myself as well as for the club. I will become the —"

"_**I am the manager of Seirin High School. I **_**will **_**bring the team to top, no matter what obstacles we are facing in the present; no matter what obstacles we will face in the future."**_

"I hereby stand in front of everyone, to declare my determination and strive to be the very best, to do the very best, to _make_ the very best out of everyone.

"And I _will—"_

"_**I **_**will **_**achieve it."**_

_**Such is the promise I have ever so bravely uttered all those time ago.**_

"I am Komeze Kiseki. Thank you."

"_**I am Komeze Kiseki."**_

_**And this.**_

_**Is Our Story.**_

_**Fin**__**.**_

_/_

_Kantou__1__: _From what I've checked on Google, it just refers to the Nationals? Lol correct me if I'm wrong.

_百戦百勝__2_: Teiko's motto. Literal translation is "Ever-victorious".

Information regarding the entrance ceremonies in Japan is taken from a few sites! Check my profile for the links :)

/

**Author's Note:  
Urgh took me two full days to churn this chapter out :'D Although most of it are dialogues from the original manga/anime, I thought it is necessary to include them in this chapter to have the right flow.**

**And gosh, that ending. Haha I didn't planned it until I decided to include her full declaration at the end. I kind of like it hehe. What do you think? :D**

**Personally, I like how it turned out, although it was much much **_**much **_**lengthier than I had expected :P**

**School is going to start soon, and I have not really touched on the holiday homework urgh. So I doubt I can make another update soon. But do leave your thoughts and comments on my OC as well as what you think of the way I write and the usage of Itallics and bold sentences! Lol if you're confused just ask! :P I was just experimenting hehe. And what do you think will happen next! :D As mentioned before, I'll keep the storyline as close to the original series as possible, so yeap the next big thing would be the friendly match between Kaijou and Seirin! :D**

**And urgh, this week's chapter has made my dislike/hate for Akashi disappear into thin air. Urgh.**

**Ta-ta for now!**

**Saxhyske :3**

**Check below for the bloopers lol. My bloopers will generally include some funny/stupid typos or slipups I made while writing the chapter, or the actual bloopers by Fujimaki haha.**

/

Bloopers

1.

"…You didn't write your goals?"

"… None in particular." After crushing the paper ball into a cup, he—

…Pfft. Wait.

I meant.

.

.

"…You didn't write your goals?"

"… None in particular." After crushing the paper cup into a ball, he threw it backwards without a glance…

And it hit the dustbin.

Before falling off.

2.

Kagami walked in to his class only to see all of his classmates crowding around the windows.

"Hmm? What's the fuss?"

Glancing over the glass, realization dawned on him. "…Ha!"

_**I will make you number one in Japan.**_

In big, bold kanji on the field, Kuroko's heartfelt thoughts could be felt by the entire school as said enigma rubbed his nose with his hand, revealing a chalk-stained sleeve.

"Heh. Trust that kid to do this kind of thing. Well, it's his style I guess… it's just that…"

…

"Kuroko! You forgot to signed off with your name!"

"I'm sorry."

And since he forgot to sign the message in the schoolyard with his name, it was thought to be one of those mysterious unexplained circles…

…and became one of Seirin High's seven mysteries.


	3. I Am Serious

**A/N: Surprise, surprise! I'm back, again. Lol okay I swear this will be the last chapter for these few days xD Urgh I need to do my school work, seriously!**

**Unlike the previous chapter, this shouldn't be as confusing because there's not much going to and fro in the storyline. Most stuff is already in chronological order, whole chunks of **_**italics**_** means it's flashback. Small chunks is just thoughts yeah? :) Also, this time round most of the chapter is original content from me! :D**

**Anyways. Enjoy!**

**/**

**Words: 8, 654 (Didn't expect it to be so long ;_; oops)**

**Storyline taken from: Chapters 2 and 3; Season 1 Episode 2**

**Warnings: A super crude Komeze; A long-winded Komeze; A philosophical Komeze; lol what else? xD Oh and mentions of Hyuuga's perverted(?) mind?**

**Just a tad bit. (Really. It's nothing big for you to go cray cray over, heh.)**

**/**

"Hmm hmm hmmmm…" Riko skipped along the corridors in the school as passing students stared at her quizzically.

.

.

.

"Hey, what happened to the Coach? I know she was supposed to look for an opponent for a practice match together with Komeze, but…"

"She came back already, and I saw her skipping along merrily while humming."

"S-skipping along merrily while humming?!"

"You don't have to quote the exact phrase, Captain…"

"Aho! Don't you know… if the Coach is doing that…" Turning to face the others, he continued with sweat continuously dripping down his face.

"You'd better be ready, everyone. If Coach is skipping, that means… our next opponent is quite dangerous…"

.

.

.

"Ah, Coach." "Welcome back."

"I'm back! Sorry, I'll get changed immediately!"

Pausing mid-skip, she added. "Ah, just a thing.

"I got a match ready with a school that has one of the 'Generation of Miracles'~"

With that, she turned around and went on her merry way.

…

"What?"

"... Seriously?!"

"What's the fuss about?"

For the second time since meeting her, the entire Seirin team suffered from whiplash at the sudden voice of one Komeze Kiseki.

"Can you stop scaring us?!"

"Who are you trying to be?! Kuroko?!"

"Please leave me out of this."

"….?!"

For the second time that day, the entire Seirin team, with the exception of one Komeze Kiseki and one Kuroko Tetsuya, suffered from _major _whiplash after abruptly twisting their heads twice.

/

**Requesting for strong guys! An opponent for Kuroko and Kagami to try out their strength!**

/

**Chapter 2: I Am Serious**

"Hmm? This…"

"This Month Basketball issue… wasn't it at the time Kuroko was in Teikou?"

"Oooh! It has featuring articles about each of the players of the 'Generation of Miracles'!"

"…Huh? Kuroko didn't get an article?"

"Even though you were the sixth player… didn't someone come to get information about you?"

"They did, but they forgot about me."

…_it must have been painful!_

"On top of that, someone like me is completely different from these five persons. Because they are… _true geniuses_."

.

.

.

"Oooh, so this is Seirin. As expected from a new school, it looks nice."

"Check that guy, he looks so cool.." "So tall… wait, isn't he a model…" Passing female students were immediately smitten by a certain blonde student as he walked in the direction of the Seirin school gym.

Meanwhile, said school's basketball team members were having another 5v5 match among themselves.

After receiving a pass from Kuroko, Kagami got into a stance as he prepared to go head on against Izuki Shun. Puffing out a heavy breath, with focused eyes he charged past his senior while dribbling the ball.

"Tch!" _No, not yet! I can still keep up!_

Just as Izuki was thinking that, Kagami did an unexpected turn around him with the ball and jumped for a successful, powerful dunk. A student in a grey school jacket merely smirked at the sight.

"He's fast!"

"Incredible! He turned back even though he was going at full speed?! You wouldn't think that cut was made by a human…"

"Do you think he can beat even the 'Generation of Miracles' with that?!"

"It's possible! Actually, don't you think it's more than likely?"

"That's not an easy maneuver!"

"Maybe he's already surpassed them?!"

Kuroko kept silent throughout the excited chattering among players.

"_From what I've seen, you wouldn't even reach their feet." _

"…That was what I said, but…"

.

.

.

"Gather around, everyone!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Hmm? Where's our dearest Kiseki-chan?"

"Er ah. Komeze went to get refreshments for the team." _S-since when does Coach call her by such an affectionate name? _Hyuuga could only give a crooked smile at Riko's supposed attempt to get back at Komeze.

"I see~ Oh well, since she already knows it I'll just break it to you guys."

.

.

.

"A practice match against Kaijou High?!"

"Yup! They won't disappoint us. We'll put plenty of first years on the court."

"Disappoint us? They're way better than us."

"Are they really that strong?"

"They're strong at the national level. They play in the Interhigh every year." Hyuuga recalled.

Nodding, Riko added on, "And this year, Kaijou got their hands on one of the 'Generation of Miracles', Kise Ryouta."

"…Urh…" "Are we really going to go against one of _them_?" "The 'Generation of Miracles'?"

While everyone was overwhelmed at the thought of the incoming friendly match, Kagami was gleeful about it. _I never thought I'd get to play them so soon. What a blessing. I'm getting excited._

Hyuuga remembered something. "Ah, and apparently, he works as a model as well."

"Seriously?!" "Incredible!" "Good-looking and good at basketball? That's brutal." "It's unfair!"

Riko could only sigh at her team's envy. _Idiots…hmm? Uh, what? W-why…_

_Why is there such a crowd here?! And they're all female students?!_

"Aaah, I didn't mean for this to happen…"

In the midst of the overwhelming crowd of fans, sits one model on the edge of the stage, legs perfectly crossed in a practiced fashion.

Instant recognition hit Riko and a few of the others.

_What is one of the Generation of Miracles doing here…?_

_Kise Ryouta!_

"It's been a while." Kuroko gave a polite nod towards the model.

Looking up in the midst of signing his autograph for the fans, Kise flashed out a natural smile. "Good to see you as well."

Rubbing his hair in a guilty manner, he added apologetically, "Sorry, really. Um… Do you think you could wait five minutes?"

.

.

.

"Wha…what are you doing here?"

"When I heard our next opponent was Seirin, I remembered Kurokocchi went here, so I thought I'd come say hi."

"We were the best of friends in middle school."

"Not more than anyone else."

"You're so mean!"

…_Uh…_

Flipping through the sports magazine found previously, Furihata started reciting off the article.

"Kise Ryouta. Although he only started basketball in his second year of middle school, his exceptional physical ability and sense got him on the Teiko team as a regular in a heartbeat. While he has less experience than the other four, he's a rapidly improving all-rounder."

"Only since your second year?!"

"That article exaggerated quite a bit. I'm glad I was called one of the Generation of Miracles, but I'm the worst of the bunch."

Turning to Kuroko, he continued, "That's why Kurokocchi and I were picked on all the time."

"That never happened to me. And could you please stop making up things?" Kuroko flatly denied Kise's claim. Kise burst into fake tears.

"What? So it was just me—"

Stopping mid-sentence, Kise turned around and quickly intercepted the ball aiming for him at full speed.

"Ouch…what was that for?"

"Kagami!"

"Sorry for interrupting your little reunion. But don't tell me you came all the way here just to greet us." Posing a stance, he gestured towards Kise.

"Why don't you play with me a little, pretty boy?"

"What? I don't know if I'm ready. But I just…" After seemingly pondering for a while, he glanced at Kagami and decided, "fine, let's do it.

"I have to thank you for that display."

"Ah. This is bad."

"Eh?" _Kuroko-kun?_

.

.

.

"When Kise-kun has seen a play, _he can make it his own in an instant_."

Kise passed Kagami with the exact same move Kagami made against Izuki earlier, but possessed a better, faster and stronger cut than Kagami's. Kagami realized this as he fell from the impact of Kise's dunk.

Riko frowned. _This isn't simple imitation. He perfectly made it his own!_

"…this is… the Generation of Miracles." "Kuroko, isn't your friend way too incredible?"

"…I don't know that person."

"Huh?"

"Honestly, I was thinking naively earlier as well. But… even though I haven't met him in just a few months…" _The abilities of the Generation of Miracles are evolving at a much higher pace than I expected._

Looking down at the fallen Kagami, Kise gave a resounding sigh.

"I don't know about this."

"Huh?"

"After something so disappointing, I can't just leave now." Pausing in his talking, Kise walked towards Kuroko with a grin on his face.

"As I thought, I think it's better to just give us Kurokocchi."

"H-huh?!"

Stopping right in front of the invisible boy, he stretched out his hand.

"Come join us. Let's play basketball together again."

_H-he's serious?!_

"I seriously respect you, Kurokocchi. It's a waste of your talent to stay here. Ne, what do you say?"

Without missing a heartbeat, Kuroko gave an instant reply.

"I am honoured to hear you say that." Bowing respectfully and apologetically, he continued, "But I must respectfully decline your offer."

"That doesn't make any sense." Kise frowned. "Besides, this isn't like you. Winning was everything. Why didn't you go somewhere better?"

"My thinking has changed since then."

"Ah?"

"More importantly, I made a promise to Kagami-kun. I told him we'd beat you, the Generation of Miracles."

"… It really isn't like you to joke around like that."

"…Ha ha!" Kagami suddenly released a breathy laugh. _So this is the Generation of Miracles… They really are amazing! And there are four more guys stronger than him. I can't help but smile._

"Cheh. What are you talking about? I was going to say that, Kuroko."

Answering Kise's enquiry, Kuroko added, "I still don't have a sense of humour, Kise-kun. _I'm serious_."

Seeing Kuroko's dead serious face, Kise could not help but smirked.

"Alright then. I accept your challenge."

Suddenly remembering something, Kise looked up and glanced around the gym.

"…Is there anything else you need, Kise-kun?"

"Ah. Where is she? I heard from Kasamatsu-senpai that your mana—"

"Ah! Komeze's back!" "Finally our drinks are here!" "Urgh I need to chug down a drink to soothe my nerves…"

A chorus of exclamations and gratefulness erupted when Komeze appeared at the doorsteps. She bent over to put the box of refreshments down and change her shoes into indoor ones.

…_Komeze?_Kise caught onto the name of their manager.

Kise turned around and stared at her.

As she changed her shoes, she greeted them.

"I'm back. By the way, what's the ruckus outside the corridor? There is a crowd of morbid girls whispering among themselves. They only know to disperse when I unleashed my fury upon them—"

Looking up, she stopped mid-sentence.

For a while, Kise and Komeze continuously started at each other in the eyes, an unspoken tension could be felt between them. The other members started to feel fidgety and whispered among themselves.

"Hey, what do you think is going on between them?" "Do you think Komeze knows he's one of the Generation of Miracles?" "She should know, she seems to know everything…" "Maybe Kise—"

Realization dawned on them.

_Kise is lovestruck?!_

Breaking off the eye contact, Komeze merely lifted the box and walked towards the group.

"Eh, ah! Komeze! Do you need help with the box? Looks kind of heavy…"

"There's no need." Stopping in front of Kise, she shifted the weight to one arm. The close proximity seemed to snap Kise out of his thoughts.

"Eh, ah. K—"

"You must be Kise Ryouta, right?" Komeze effectively cut his sentence off, all the while giving him a blank gaze.

"E-eh?" Kise just stared dumbly back at her.

Komeze sighed. "Ah. I apologise. That's not the way to greet someone you just met."

Extending her free hand out, she continued, "_Hajime mashite_ (1). I am Komeze Kiseki, the manager for Seirin High boys' basketball team. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kise Ryouta."

Looking at her outstretched hand, Kise blinked twice before flashing out a brilliant smile.

"Ah, yes. It's a pleasure to meet you as well—" Before his hand could come in contact with hers, Komeze withdrew her hand and threw a heated stare at Kise. The other members just watched silently at what had just unfolded.

"Kise Ryouta. I don't know whether you know your position, but this is our school gym. And you're currently disrupting our team's practice."

_W-what's with the attempt to be formal and polite if your intent had been to chase him out all this time?! _ The rest of Seirin could only deadpanned at Komeze's antics, but dare not voice out their thoughts for fear of facing the wrath of one Komeze Kiseki. After interacting with her for a few days, they realized she was not a lady to be trifled with.

"Huh? Ah, I apologise for the intrusion. It's just that I heard I'll be playing against Seirin and remembered that Kurokocchi came here so I got excited—"

"And disrupted us. Now, if you would please leave."

At this, even Riko was shocked. _I know she's a rude brat, but not to this extent!_

"Hey, Kiseki-chan. Even though he came without any notification, but he's still considered a guest in our school. That's a bit too much, don't you think?"

"I don't think so."

"Kiseki—"

"It stands that he is only here to look down on us." Staring straight at Kise, she continued, "He never intended for this to be some nice fluffy talk. He only wanted to see how _little_ effort he needs to put in to defeat us."

Hyuuga stepped in. "Komeze that's a bit—"

"The Generation of Miracles. They are this kind of people. _Always _looking down on others. _Always _thinking that they don't even _need_ to try to win." Komeze never once broke eye contact with Kise, who kept unnaturally still and silent throughout her tirade.

"The Generation of Miracles only knows how to _selfishly_ play for their individual whims. _Never _for the team. _Never for anyone else_."

Calming down a bit, she looked away from the stunned Kise and heaved a sigh.

"This is why I don't like this."

Looking at Komeze's resigned face, Kuroko spoke up.

"Please calm down, Komeze-san. And Kise-kun, we've seen how strong you are. And you've heard our challenge. So it's all good. I think you should leave for today."

Kuroko's quiet, calm voice broke Kise out of his trance.

"A-ah. I understand." Composing himself, he gave an uncertain smile and continued, "Well, I guess I'll see you guys in the upcoming match."

/

"…Komeze seemed to be really pissed just now, don't you think?"

After a day's worth of practice, the boys had headed to the lockers to change. After Kise had left, Komeze announced that she felt unwell and left after placing the box of refreshments next to the benches. Kuroko had finished changing earlier and had left first.

"Well, let's not dwell on it, Izuki."

"But that was the first time I saw Komeze snapping at someone, all the more someone whom she just met." Kagami could not helped but be confused by her earlier actions.

"Hmmm, Beauty-chan seemed to have a grudge against the Generation of Miracles, seeing the way she berated Kise and all those things she said about them." Koganei frowned. "It's almost as if she thinks it's basically a _sin _to be the Generation of Miracles."

"Well, I can't really disagree with her words." Taking a few gulps of water, Hyuuga added, "It's true they just crushed everyone in the three years they were in the team. After all that winning, it must have gotten to their heads."

"But what I don't understand is why she seems to have a heavier grudge than the rest of us who knew that no matter what they would be the final obstacle we had to overcome to win? If she had been in a girls' team, there shouldn't be that much of a conflict."

"Ah. Beauty-chan mentioned she is friends with the basketball team's manager in her middle school. She probably heard about nasty stuff from her friend."

"…Just how isthe Generation of Miracles like? Er p-please tell me." Kagami was still not used to the polite tone he had to use when he was with the seniors.

"Oh right. Kagami studied abroad so he doesn't know much about them."

"Well, there's no harm in telling you I guess. It's all in the past anyway…"

/

"…So they looked down on their opponents and don't respect them at all, huh? Such geniuses aren't that perfect after all, I guess." Kagami was at the usual fast food outlet.

"No one is perfect, Kagami-kun."

"Gwoh?!" Forcefully gulping down the food bits, Kagami glared at the blue-haired teenager sitting across him.

"Hello."

"Can you stop appearing out of nowhere?!"

/

"So you heard from Hyuuga-senpai about them?" Sipping on his vanilla milkshake, Kuroko walked along the pavement.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Kagami heaved a sigh. "Yeah, the seniors told me stuff they heard about the Generation of Miracles, as they haven't been able to encounter them in an actual match before."

The light and shadow duo was outside in the streets after Kagami's outburst in the restaurant. He felt embarrassed due to the dozens of eyes staring at him, so he just dashed out without finishing his huge meal, dragging Kuroko along without much thinking.

"…Kagami-kun did not have to pull me along by my jacket. It hurts."

"S-shut up! 'Sides, if I didn't drag you with me, how would you have escaped the place that quickly?"

"… I could have just use my misdirection, and continued enjoying my milkshake in peace while the other patrons whispered among themselves about this huge burly with quadruple eyebrows shouting at thin air—"

"Bastard. Do you really want to start a fight? And stop with the quadruple eyebrows urgh they are natural okay?!"

"I'm sorry."

"…Kuroko, when you said you feel something was missing when you played with the Generation of Miracles, were you referring to this?"

"… To be honest, I'm still trying to find that missing element."

"Huh?"

"Although it's true that the five of them are insensitive and arrogant players… they haven't always been like that." Kuroko did not know whether he was just exhausted, or Komeze's harsh words got to him, but he felt extremely talkative at the moment. He wanted to just dig out his heart raw for the whole world to see. He wanted to be exposed, because he was tired of _everything_.

"My middle school has always emphasized on the essential of victory. Nothing less was to be expected from the club..." _But, it made me wonder, just what _exactly _is victory?_

Kagami noticed that Kuroko had gone silent after a while, seemingly immersed in his own thoughts. And as insensitive as he was, he did not delve deeper into the matter. Because he had sensed a touch of sadness behind those emotionless, cloudless eyes.

The rest of their journey included one silent Kuroko and one excited Kagami anticipating their upcoming match against Kaijou, the comfortable silence between them only occasionally disrupted by Kuroko's half-hearted slurping of his milkshake.

/

"…Komeze is not here yet…"

"I wonder if she is still upset over yesterday's events."

"Who knows? I still can't really understand her sudden change in mood though…"

Riko sighed. The team was still affected by Komeze's foul mood yesterday, and she was quite worried about the bespectacled teen.

Not that she would admit that aloud.

"Kawahara-kun, you're in the same class as Kiseki-chan, right? Did she come to school today?"

"A-ah. She did… After school ended I asked if she wanted to head to the gym together but she said she needed to do something first and left. She seemed to be in a better mood today…"

"Eh! Kawahara tried to make a move on Beauty-chan! That's not allowed!" "Ah! Sly Kawahara! Trying to be chummy with our manager!"

"E-eh? I-I was just trying to be nice!"

"That's enough of your antics for today." Riko rubbed her temple, frowning. "If such tardy behavior continues, I would not hesitate to kick Komeze out of the club—"

"I can't have you do that, Coach."

"K-kuroko?! Since when were you here?!" The team grimaced at the uncountable time they received a whiplash.

"I was here the whole time."

"…Urgh never mind that! And what do you mean by that, Kuroko-kun? Don't tell me you are smitten by Kiseki-chan as well? I don't particularly mind relationships in our club, but you boys are a tad bit too much—"

"That's not it, Coach. I just want to request everyone to give Komeze-san a little more time to prove to us her worth."

"…What do you mean by that?" Kagami did not really care as long as Komeze does not get in his way of the upcoming match against Kise.

"Coach wants a reliable manager who can support the team both tactically and psychologically, right? I believe Komeze-san is the best manager we could get."

"…Hah. Well I do think that she has the potential, but she needs to get rid of that lousy personality of hers. No matter how talented she might be, I don't accept irresponsible members in my club—"

"Give her some time, Coach. That's all I'm asking for. I'm sure she has her reasons for being late."

"Relax, I know her worth. And I only said those words because I'm feeling angsty at the moment, I didn't mean it… But you seem to be all ready to defend her, Kuroko-kun… Do you know something we don't?"

"Ah. She told me to keep it a secret for now."

"A secret? So there's really something going on between the two of you?"

"Hah! Look who's being sly now!" "Kuroko, how could you?! We trusted you!" "You seem to be the kind of guy who won't be interested in Komeze! That's why we didn't keep an eye on you!"

"Aho! This is the basketball club, not some place for you guys to make a move on Kiseki!" Getting exasperated now, Riko berated them. _First I have a manager who has mood swings, and now a bunch of hormonal boys?! Urgh can someone tell me why did I agree to be their coach again?!_

"Please calm down, Coach. And everyone, please be assured that it's not what you think it is going on between Komeze-san and I. We're just friends."

… _I don't even think the rest of us could even count on having friendship with Komeze/Beauty-chan…_

"I apologise for being late."

The team turned around (slowly this time, to make sure their necks do not suffer the same fate again) to see the subject of their conversation standing at the doorway.

"Kiseki-chan! Why are you late?" Riko tried her best to calm down, but her question still came out in a harsh tone.

"I was collecting data."

"You—…Uh?" Riko had anticipated all sorts of excuses to come out of her mouth, but she never once thought that Komeze was out for her job as the manager. _Urgh… looks like my first impression of her still made me biased against her… I need to change that…after what happened yesterday at Kaijou…_

"Data? On who?" Hyuuga could not help but asked.

"Everyone. Including our next opponents – Kaijou."

"…Huh?"

"You guys know I went with Riko-senpai to Kaijou High, right? I observed some of their players, especially their starters. Then I haven't really had time to finalize my analysis of all of your physique and abilities, so I took some time after school to look through them."

"W-wow." "You can actually do that?" "That's kind of cool!"

Riko nodded in understanding. "Fine. But why did you need to do your analysis elsewhere? You could have just done it here."

"I need to be by myself and zone out for a while to think through clearly, although this only applies for basketball stuff. If I had stayed here, I won't be able to think that well. The dribbling of the balls would distract me."

"You could have told me earlier! To think I was saying what a tardy member you are in front of the others.." Riko pouted.

"Heh. It slipped my mind. I apologise. Does senpai's statement mean she still _think _that I'm a tardy member?"

"Who knows?"

"Ah."

"Anyway. Let us hear your analysis."

"Alright. Then I shall start." Flipping a piece of paper over the clipboard she was holding, Komeze's cocky demeanor immediately changed to a serious one.

"Kaijou High is a national-level veteran school who regularly make appearances in the Interhigh. They are known as the Blue Elites from the highly competitive Kanagawa district…" Staring at her clipboard for a while, she flipped the piece of paper up.

"Moving on."

"Eh?! That's all for the introduction?!"

"It's boring. Plus, it's not information you guys really need to know."

"…Where did you get those from anyway?"

"An acquaintance. You don't need to know anything else."

"…Hah…" The team could only sweatdrop at how Komeze just brushed off the subject.

"I'll just start from the top. For our upcoming match, there is a 90% chance that their coach, Takeuchi Genta, would have us play against most of their regulars. Then—"

"W-wait. Their regulars?" "And how did you come up with the percentage…"

"Takeuchi-san looked down upon us. That was evident when Riko-senpai and I approached him to request for a friendly match. That said, he still wouldn't risk having his school being beaten by a supposedly no-name school like us. His caution would probably arise from our meeting with him yesterday, and the fact that our seniors managed to reach the Interhigh preliminary rounds last year with only first years."

"…So our reputation seems to be good, huh?" "If it means strong teams would pit their regulars against us rather than lousy players, I'm not sure if our reputation is good _for_ us…"

"Lousy or not, Takeuchi-san would have his regulars play against us, not just for assurance, but to mock us for the possibly large point gap when the match ends. For a former national player, he sure has quite an unsightly attitude." Everyone noticed a small frown etched on Komeze's face as she made her judgment of the Kaijou coach, before she composed herself and continued, "well, we'll play them alright, except for one regular."

"Huh? Who?"

"There is an 80% chance that he would not allow Kise to play in the match."

"Huh?" "Why? And 80%...?"

"Takeuchi may want to jeer at us and assure his win, but his fault is in looking down on us in the first place – he doesn't think he needs Kise to beat us. He'd rather have his ace use the time instead to practice and become better."

"Wait, practice when the match is going on? When we went there they only had one gym assigned to the basketball club because there were a lot of other clubs in need of the facilities as well…" Riko was confused.

"He'll only use half the court for the match."

"W-what? That's just too much!"

"Like I said, he's a horrendous chubby man. But I'm sure he has his merits as a coach, though I won't dwell on them yet. Having only half the court for our match is the perfect way to snub at us for even trying to play against them."

"Grrr…. If this is true I'm _so _going to smash that coach's face in—"

"Calm your head, Hyuuga-senpai. We can still change that. _And _force him to sub Kise in."

"Eh? How?"

"When I was there, I noticed that the nails holding a hoop to one of the backboards along the length of the gym are rusty. I heard a lot of small creaking noises when basketballs are thrown in it."

"S-so observant…"

"I further checked into their club records and found out that it was long due for a repair. Hence, there is a 70% chance that a strong, powerful dunk would destroy the hoop."

"…I'm not even going to ask how you managed to access their records…"

"An acquaintance of mine."

"Seriously?!"

"So how would destroying the hoop do anything?"

"_Everything_. With one of the hoops spoilt, Takuechi-san would be forced to use the full court."

"And about subbing Kise in?"

"Well, if the _strong, powerful _dunk is from one of us, he would be intimidated to some extent, wouldn't he?" As she said this with a smirk, she glanced at Kagami.

He caught on. "So, you are saying that I should score the first dunk? And it should be a powerful one?"

"That's right. It's best if it happened right at the start of the game."

/

"Phew, that was quite a long meeting about our upcoming match."

"It mainly involves Komeze telling us her analysis and possible situations which could occur during the match."

"…All her predictions, do you think they will be true?"

"…In spite of all that percentages she randomly threw out, she seemed to know what she was saying."

"Heh. It would be interesting to find out if her predictions would come true."

"Rather, I'd say it's already pretty impressive to even come up with such detailed analysis. And to top it off, she's cute! Her sassy attitude is attractive."

"And when she apologized to us for the snappy attitude of hers yesterday! She was so straightforward and didn't hesitate to admit to her fault!"

"I'm quite curious about this _acquaintance_ of hers, though… he or she seemed to have access to anything…"

"Hah! I want to get to know that guy too.. Sounds pretty amazing if you can get access to any data you want, man."

"Anyway, Beauty-chan sure is knowledgeable when it comes to basketball games! Although she doesn't play the sport itself, she seems to have some passion for it!"

"Ah, about that." Hyuuga pulled down his shirt after changing and faced Koganei. "Actually, she plays basketball."

"Huh?! Seriously?" "Wah, I couldn't really tell…" "Well, she _is _rather tall for a girl…" "Now that you say, she does have some well-defined leg muscles, but I wouldn't have thought it was from playing basketball…"

"Kuroko, did you know about this?!"

"No I didn't. And stop asking me whether I know something, Kagami-kun."

"W-well, you seem to know everything as well…"

"How did you know about this, Hyuuga?"

"I was discussing with the coach yesterday regarding our upcoming match. Then I got curious after thinking about Komeze's outburst, so I asked Coach if anything happened with Kise when the two of them were at Kaijou earlier in the afternoon…"

/

"_While we were at Kaijou?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Hmm… we didn't see Kise in Kaijou when we went over… something about him having a last-minute important modeling photo shoot."_

"_Ah, right. That brat is a model…"_

"…_but Kiseki-chan was acting slightly weird even when we were on our way to Kanagawa. I didn't inform her beforehand that I was intending to approach Kaijou for a practice match. When she found out, she appeared stunned for a while before replying, 'Is that so…'. Her expression was really strange! Like she looked sad and at the same time wanted to murder someone."_

_Your _description is strange_. Hyuuga silently thought to himself._

"_And when we were there, she kept looking around, as if she was finding someone. I'm willing to bet she was looking for Kise. Or looking out for Kise, at least. It was only when she abruptly asked the coach right after we have said our greetings did his answer pacify her. She regained her composure after that."_

"…_Why is she so conscious of Kise? Or the Generation of Miracles, maybe?"_

"…_who knows? I don't think it's in our place to enquire her about such stuff yet though. Guess we'll have to wait to find out."_

"_I guess… Oh, by the way, how did you manage to persuade Kaijou's coach to have a practice match with us? I mean, they _are _of national standards."_

"_Hmm? Oh, I obviously used my feminine points and—"_

"_You mean _Komeze_ used her feminine points to persuade the coach." Hyuuga realized he shouldn't have said that aloud. _Now she's going to kill me…

"…_in a way, you're right." Riko merely blinked and agreed with Hyuuga._

Not going to beat the crap out of me?!

"_But not by verbal persuasion, actually."_

"_D-don't tell me she did something provocative?! As her senior, why didn't you stop her—"_

"_Stop thinking about weird things! And don't imagine it, either!" Hyuuga was still hit on the head, regardless._

"_T-then what did you mean by that?!"_

"_Well, I certainly didn't expect that she would take up the coach's challenge…"_

/

"_From Seirin High?"_

"_Yes, if you would just give us a bit of your time…"_

"_Why would I? It was quite daring of you to approach an elite school like ours, little girls."_

_Getting irritated, Riko plastered a sickeningly sweet smile. "Let me re-introduce ourselves. She is Komeze Kiseki, the manager of Seirin High boys' basketball team. I am the coach of said school, _Aida_ Riko."_

…Aida? And wait, she's the coach?!

"_Now, if you would please just hear us out—"_

"_Before that. Where is Kise Ryouta?"_

"_Eh?" _Why does Kiseki-chan want to know? And that brat just interrupted me!

"_If you really want to know, Kise has a last-minute modeling shoot. It seemed important enough that his manager came begging, and he won't miss much practice time. So I let him off."_

_Upon hearing that, Komeze's shoulders drooped just slightly, tension in them that Riko only now noticed disappearing._

"_Why would you want to know? Are you disappointed that Kise's not around? Don't tell me I have to deal with yet another one of his fans. And you even came from Tokyo and pretended to be part of a basketball team—"_

"_Uh. Get your facts right, Coach-san. One, I'm not one of those fans. It would be a million years later before you would even see me having a millimeter fraction of my heart to adore that dork. Two, I'm not disappointed he's not around. You don't know how much I want to just jump around and shout Hallelujah. But it's not in my character to do such things, so I won't. Third, we aren't pretending. It's real. We _are _from the basketball team." _

_Pausing to give a dramatic, exaggerated sigh, Komeze continued, "Ah. And I had expected more from a former national player for our country. Surely you could _tell _that we have the brains? Or do you teach your team to be all brawns and no brains?"_

_Riko could not help but snigger at that. _That's more like the cocky Kiseki-chan I know…

"_W-what did you—"_

"_I'll cut to the chase. Seirin High would like to formally ask of Kaijou High to schedule a practice match with our basketball team players." Komeze dropped her sarcastic tone and, with serious eyes, informed the coach of Kaijou their purpose for coming to their school._

"_Practice match? Hah! And why should I agree?"_

"_Because you won't stand to lose anything."_

"_Yes. Yes I would. You will only waste my players' precious time—"_

"_I didn't finish. Not only will you not lose anything, you'll stand to gain something."_

"_If by gaining something means that my team would win yours, and obviously they will, it's not worth it. I mean, why play a match that you know you'll win for sure—"_

"_There may be things in life that we can be sure about. 'I'm sure I won't regret this.' 'I'm sure I'm strong enough.' 'I'm sure I'll like this dish.' 'I'm sure I can do this' Or even 'I'm sure I want this, because it's basketball.' 'I'm sure I can do it, because it's basketball.' 'I'm sure I can win this, because it's basketball.' 'I'm sure I'm stronger than them, because it's basketball.' 'I'm sure I don't need to put in effort to win, because it's basketball.' 'I'm sure I will love it, because it's basketball, right?'"_

_Looking straight into the eyes of the coach, Komeze continued._

"_All these whimsical things, things we chose to believe in, to be sure of, may not be absolute after all. Because in the end, __**we can be sure of it, but it cannot be sure of us**__."_

_After an awkward moment of silence between the trio, Komeze blinked twice before clearing her throat. "I apologise for going out of my way. I tend to do that when I hear or see something I don't really agree on."_

_Snapping out of his trance, Takeuchi sighed._

"_It's not that I don't get what you're trying to say, young lady. But you have to know that sometimes, one can predict something even before it happened. That is reality. I've been a Coach for longer than you could speak, girl, and my experience with basketball even way before that. I've heard of Seirin, and I have to admit you guys are considerably good for a team consisting of only first years to even reach to that kind of standard last year._

"_But in the end, you still couldn't reach Kaijou. And while you guys have potential, that's all there is to it. You guys are just budding seeds. It would take you years before you can even reach our feet. That _is _reality, young lady."_

_Takeuchi just stared at Komeze while saying all this. Komeze grew silent._

_Turning to Riko, he added, "And I know what you were trying to make me guess with your introductions. I figured it out. But a good coach does not necessarily mean that the team would be good."_

_Riko gritted out. "Then how? What do you want us to do to prove to you our worth?"_

_At that, Takeuchi smiled. "Simple. While I may say that, the coach still needs to be good for the seed to even develop and grow in the first place. So either one of you, as your team's guiders, must prove to me. That you are capapble of leading your team to victory. To _us_."_

_Hearing that, Riko grew exasperated. "How?! Do you expect us to play basketball against one of your players or something?!"_

"_You got that right, young lady."_

"_What?!" Riko could open stare at him, open-mouthed at the absurdity of everything._

"_My request would probably be as easy as you guys beating us in a match, no?"_

_Komeze clenched her fists. "To think of us so lowly…"_

"_I'm just trying to not waste any more of our time. Both yours, and mine." Turning away, he called out Kasamatsu Yukio to address to him about something. "Now, if you would please take your leave—"_

"_I accept."_

_Riko whipped her head towards Komeze. "Huh?"_

_Even Takeuchi was shocked. "Do you… even know what you're saying, miss?"_

_At this moment, Kasamatsu reached them._

"_I will say it again. I _will _say it again as many times as needed, Takeuchi Genta-san. I. Accept. Your. Challenge." Komeze used determined, strong-willed, stubborn obsidian eyes on the stunned coach._

_Riko stared at Komeze as if she had grown two heads. "Are you crazy?! I knew it! I knew there was something crazy about you! No matter how much you may be angry at his careless remark, there's no need for you to go so far as to challenge a national-level team yourself, Kiseki!"_

"_Now look who is looking down on us, Coach." Riko flinched at her tone._

"_It's no wonder others would say such things about us if you don't have enough confidence to brag and show off your team, Riko-senpai."_

"_It's not the team that I don't have any confidence in. It's—"_

"_Me, right? Riko-senpai doesn't have any confidence in me."_

"_That's not what I meant, Kiseki! I am in no doubt about your tactical abilities, but we're talking about playing the actual sport here!"_

"_Then you're looking down on me."_

"_Kiseki—"_

"_Riko-senpai. I know your concerns. But I am serious. Right now, the _only _concern that I have is to prove Takeuchi-san wrong. And make him recognize our abilities."_

"_Kiseki-chan…"_

"_I. Have no intentions of going back to Seirin without the date of our practice match with Kaijou confirmed. Do you have that determination as well, Riko-senpai?"_

_Maybe she was nuts herself, maybe she really had grown two heads like Komeze, or maybe it was just the pair of determined, unwavering miles of onyx staring right into her soul, Riko could not determine just what it was that made her believe in Komeze._

_Turning to the plump coach, Riko mere asked, "Is your challenge legitimately valid, Takeuchi-san?"_

"…_What's going on, Coach?" Kasamatsu could only stare back and forth between the three._

"…_Urgh. I have these two illogical girls from Seirin demanding a practice match with our team. And they actually took me seriously when I was joking about having a one-on-one with one of you guys."_

_Kasamatsu took a look at Komeze. "Well, they seemed serious enough, why not just have a go?"_

"_What? Kasamatsu, you're playing along with them?"_

_The Kaijou captain merely answered, "…She looks strong." _

_Turning to the Seirin manager, he added, "I'll take you on. If you lose this match, you'll admit defeat, okay?"_

_Komeze merely smirked. "Don't go deciding things like that._

"_We can never be sure about anything."_

_._

_._

_._

_As a hoop was cleared for them to have their one-on-one, the whole club stopped whatever they were doing and observed._

"_What? The captain is playing against a girl?" "What's going on?" "Who knows?"_

_Komeze had opted to stay in her school uniform, claiming that it would be over in a short while. _

_The rules were simple – If Komeze could steal one out of ten of Kasamatsu's shots, she wins and Seirin would have a practice match with Kaijou._

_As Kasamatsu dribbled the the ball on the spot, Komeze got into a denfensive stance. He made a calculated step to his right and drove through._

_However, before he could lift his hand to do a layup, a hand shot out. Out of reflex, Kasamatsu jerked back and stablised himself. To his surprise, Komeze kept up with him and her hand reached out to grab the ball once again. Wasting no time, he lifted the ball higher, jumped on the spot and attempted a two-pointer._

_._

_._

_._

_To his utter shock, the ball rebounded, and landed right into Komeze's hands._

"_Ah. What a surprise." Smirking, Komeze looked straight at Kasamatsu. "You delivered the ball straight to me._

"_I guess that concludes my win."_

_Takeuchi could only look on, unable to believe the turn of events. _Even though she did not directly intercept the shot, the fact that she could affect Kasamatsu so much that his accuracy dropped by so much…

"_Tch! That shouldn't count. You did not directly intercept—"_

"_I'm sure you know there are other ways to intercept other than physically blocking the opponent, Takeuchi-san. Heh. After all that bragging, you are still trying to argue your way with an _inexperienced, budding, young lady _who only knows how to talk?" Komeze threw his words back at him._

W-wow…_ Riko was not fooled by the simplicity of that showdown. _Kiseki-chan's way of pressurizing him was not ordinary…

_Takeuchi could only hang his head low at the supposed defeat. Although Komeze didn't steal the ball, she was right. Takeuchi could tell indeed that Kasamatsu lost not because his throw was a sudden one - he knew his captain could have performed better than that - it was due to the pressure Komeze had performed on him._

_And Komeze _did _won by their rule. She did manage to "steal" the ball. Not wanting to argue any further, Takeuchi sighed._

_"Fine. It's your win, young lady. The rest of you. Resume your training! I didn't give you guys permission to take a break!" _

_At their coach's booming voice, the other members scampered to grabbed the balls and continued with their drill._

_Kasamatsu merely chuckled under his breath and admitted his defeat. Although the match abruptly reached its conclusion, he knew Komeze used the quickest effective method to prove his coach wrong and would catch everybody off guard. _Interesting... if their manager has this certain flair to her, I can't wait to see what else this team has in store for us.

.

.

.

"_So next Tuesday, at 3 sharp, meet us directly here at our school gym, got that?"_

_Takeuchi was finalizing the details of their practice match with Komeze and Riko._

_Ever since Komeze showed the plump man their worth, Riko had been all smiles and sunshines, grinning gleefully at the frustrated aura surrounding the adult. "Yes, yes, Takeuchi-san~"_

"_Tch. Okay, that's it brats, you've taken enough of my time. I'll see you next week." Getting annoyed, Takeuchi waved off the two teens._

"_Thank you for accepting our invitation." Komeze bowed politely, although she was inwardly smirking._

_Before leaving, Komeze turned back one last time and said, "Ah. Takeuchi-san. Do be well-prepared for our practice match. '__My request would probably be as easy as you guys beating us in a match, no?'" Once again, Komeze used his own words against him._

"_Why you—"_

"_He he! Let's just go and inform the others of this great news, Kiseki-chan!" Hooking her arm on Komeze's, Riko skipped along with Komeze._

…_More like, Komeze was dragged along, but she was still smiling nonetheless._

_As they walked along the empty corridors, Riko finally asked the question that had been in her mind._

"_Say, why didn't you tell me you play basketball as well?"_

"_Well, no one really asked. Also, whether I can or cannot play doesn't matter as long as I have enough insights for the sport." Komeze shrugged. "And it's not like I joined a basketball team before anyway, I only played it for fun."_

"_But that pressure just now! It won't be from someone who just played basketball for fun!"_

"_Why not? I enjoyed the sport enough, and that chubby dude was seriously annoying the hell out of me, I had to show him not to underestimate us."_

_Giggling at Komeze's nonchalant, yet pissed reply, Riko turned to her and gave a sincere smile. "Thanks, Komeze-chan. I knew I could count on you."_

_Slightly taken aback by Riko's sudden change in attitude towards her, Komeze blanched. "Please don't treat me any differently than before; I'm not used to a nice Riko-senpai. And it's not a big deal, really."_

_Riko abruptly grabbed her by her neck with a death grip, nearly choking her. "So you want a not nice senior, huh? Fine, I'll grant you your wish."_

_Komeze played along and pretended to gasp for air. "Ah. I will really die if you keep doing this, Riko-senpai."_

"_Then bow down to me, you peasant!"_

"_Oh the great old mighty Riko-sama, please release me from your generous hold."_

"_Heh! I didn't know you could play along as well! Fine, I shall grant you your wish, little one." Bursting into a full-blown laughter, Riko released Komeze and clutched her sides._

"_Ha ha ha! You should have seen your face when you pretended to choke, it's hilarious!"_

"_Anything for you, the great old mightly Riko-sama."_

"_Stop calling me old!" Riko reached out and pinched both her cheeks._

"_I em sorweee."_

_As Komeze and Riko took a left turn in the corridor, a blonde teen noticed them as he walked a few metres behind them before making a left turn and going back the way the girls came from._

They're not wearing our school uniforms… and they came from the direction of the gym… were they guests or something?

_As he approached the gym, he noticed his couch seem to be in a foul mood._

"_Ne, Kasamatsu-senpai? What's wrong—"_

"_You're late!" And the blonde was kicked at his sides._

"_Owee! So mean, senpai! And I had reasons, I thought you knew—"_

"_I know! But I still want to beat you because you're so annoying!"_

"…_What did I even do?"_

"_Nothing, that's why!"_

"_W-wait, Kasamatsu-senpai! I just want to ask something!" Fearing more beating from his senior, Kise stretched his arms out in defense._

"_Hmm? What is it?"_

He _needs _to change this bipolar personality of his! It's scary when he's scary, but it's scarier when he's not scary! _Kise kept his terrified thoughts to himself._

"_Uh, what happened with Coach? Why does he look so pissed off? Is it because of my modeling shoot? I swear that today will be the only time—"_

"_Relax. It's not because of you." Kasamatsu could not explain this feeling of pride when Kise panicked because he thought Takeuchi was angry that he missed practice._

"_Just now, two girls from Seirin High came over asking for a practice match with our team."_

"_Wait. Seirin High?"_

"_Yes. You've heard of them?"_

"_Ah. Not really heard, but… how to say this, I think I remembered one of my ex-teammates went to that school."_

"…_By ex-teammates, do you mean one of the Generation of Miracles?"_

"_Ah, no. He's not really a part of us, but he is…"_

"_Which is it?! Make up your mind, idiot!"_

"_Ow! Senpai, please stop hitting me!"_

"_Then who is this ex-teammate of yours?!"_

"_Eh… ah! You'll see him soon during the practice match anyway, right? Coach agreed to it?"_

"_Erm well, yeah. After much 'persuasion' from the two representatives he finally agreed."_

"_Heh. They must have been good at persuading."_

"_Well, their manager challenged me for a one-on-one. I lost and since that was the condition, Coach reluctantly agreed to the practice match."_

"_Huh? Huh?! Wait their manager challenged you?! And you lost?! And because of that, Coach agreed—"_

"_Stop screaming into my ear!"_

"_I'm sorry!"_

"_Yes. Yes their manager played against me. Yes. Yes, I lost to her. And yes, we _will _be having the practice match with Seirin next week."_

"_W-wow. Senpai actually lost—"_

"_Do you have to say it more than once?! And it's not a big deal anyway, I've lost plenty of times before, and this is just a friendly challenge. She took me by surprise and won unconventionally."_

"_Their manager actually beat Senpai—"_

"_Will you stop with that already—"_

"_And it's Kurokocchi's school…Senpai! I'm afraid I have to miss today's practice, after all."_

"_What?! Don't go deciding things on your own— Oi! Where do you think you're going?!" Kise was already at the doorway._

"_I'm going to Seirin!"_

"_What?!" But Kise did not hear Kasamatsu's yelling. He was already gone._

"_Tch, that brat. Expect some punishment practice from me later on!"_

_/_

"… So she plays basketball too, huh…" Kagami was at the isolated street court where he and Kuroko had their one-on-one when they first met, dribbling a lone ball he found in the corner. As he prepared to score a dunk, a voice came from behind.

"Boo."

"Urgh!" Kagami was caught off guard and crashed into the post.

"Pfft. What an idiot."

"W-what did you say—" With a reddened nose, Kagami turned around to lash out at the person who had unceremoniously ruined his momentum. "Komeze?!"

"Yo. I didn't think you would be here again."

"What are you doing—" He finally caught her words. "Wait. 'Again'?"

"I was just sitting there when you and Kuroko had your one-on-one." Komeze pointed to a nearby bench.

"S-seriously… and I didn't notice… do you, like, have the same invisibility thing as Kuroko or something?"

"Obviously not. I was just hiding in the bushes." Komeze admitted with a straight face.

"What?! That's seriously crazy!"

"Oh just deal with it, big guy. And I couldn't believe you actually thought Kuroko wanted to beat you when he asked for a one-on-one." Grabbing the ball from Kagami's hands, Komeze dribbled the ball with her left hand.

"Shuddup! That's got nothing to with you!"

Looking at the bouncing ball in her hand, Kagami came up with a crazy thought.

"Say, Komeze, you know how to play, right?"

Stopping the dribbling, Komeze looked at Kagami.

"Can I expect you to want to beat me when I ask for a one-on-one with you, then?"

_**Fin.**_

/

Introduction information on Kaijou taken from the KnB Wikia page :)

_Hajime mashite__(1)_: It means "How do you do?" This is greeting is, however, used only if you are meeting someone for the first time.

And about Kiseki changing shoes to indoor ones, I'm not really sure whether that applies for inside the gym as well. I remembered during the Tip Off OVA, Kuroko was seen removing his shoes or something right at the doorway of the school gym.

/

**Author's note: Hope you guys like it! :P The story just kinda rolled off of me lol does it even make sense? Anyway, I hope I portrayed Kiseki well :'D Please rate and review!**

**Ta-ta for now!**

**Saxhyske :3**

**Again, bloopers below!**

/

Bloopers

1. Being mean to Kise.

"It's been a while." Kuroko gave a polite nod towards the model.

Looking up in the midst of signing his autograph for the fans, Kise flashed out a natural smile. "Good to see you as well."

Rubbing his hair in a guilty manner, he added apologetically, "Sorry, really. Um… Do you think you could wait five minutes?"

"And if we can't wait? Then please leave, Kise-kun. You're disrupting our practice."

"So mean!"

2. Being mean to Kise part II

Kise passed Kagami with the exact same move Kagami made against Izuki earlier, but possessed a better, faster and stronger cut than Kagami's. Kagami realized this as he fell from the impact of Kise's dunk.

Riko frowned. _This isn't simple imitation. He perfectly made it his own!_

"…this is… the Generation of Miracles." "Kuroko, isn't your friend way too incredible?"

"…I don't know that person."

"…"

"…"

"…Well, Kuroko aren't you going to continue—?"

"I really don't know him."

"So mean, Kurokocchi!"

3.

"Yo. I didn't think you would be here again."

"What are you doing—" He finally caught her words. "Wait. 'Again'?"

"I was just sitting there when you and Kuroko had your one-on-one." Komeze pointed to a nearby bench.

"S-seriously… and I didn't notice… do you, like, have the same invisibility thing as Kuroko or something?"

"Obviously not. I was just hiding in the bushes." Komeze admitted with a straight face.

"What?! That's seriously crazy!"

"Oh just deal with it, big guy. And I couldn't believe you actually thought I was serious." Grabbing the ball from Kagami's hands, Komeze dribbled the ball with her left hand.

"Shuddup! That's got nothing to with you!"

…

"W-wait, so you were joking?"

"I was being serious—"

"What?! Then—"

"— about me joking."

"Make up your mind dang it!"

…

...

…

"I was actually sitting on the bench."

"So you _are _like Kuroko! I knew it—!"

"Until I saw you, then I went into hiding."

"…"

"…in the bushes."

"Why the hell are we having this conversation in the first place?!"

"Oh just deal with it, big guy. And I couldn't believe you actually thought Kuroko wanted to beat you when he asked for a one-on-one." Grabbing the ball from Kagami's hands, Komeze dribbled the ball with her left hand.

"So now you want to get back on track?! And why are the narratives exactly the same?! What happened to the ball you took from me earlier—"

"I used my misdirection to pass it back to you, Kagami-kun. It's the same ball."

"*(&!%#&!"

For the umpteenth time, Kagami suffered from whiplash and a _major _headache due to the two teens in front of him.


End file.
